Ogilvy CommonHealth’s Ashley Evens, senior engagement strategist and Nelson Figueiredo, VP, director of technology, applied their experience as a healthcare communicators to identify the most impactful technologies from their year’s CES.

Each year, technologists, strategists, start-ups, major manufacturers, and consumers gravitate to Las Vegas for CES. This is becoming the premier event to showcase new consumer electronics, technology, and products. With the growth of healthcare as a key technology topic, CES is also an important venue for healthcare brands and influencers.

Ogilvy CommonHealth’s Ashley Evens and Nelson Figueiredo spent several days on the floor at CES and have curated the following list of products and technologies to watch:

CaptureProof: like HIPAA-secure Snapchat…only better

CaptureProof is a new HIPAA-secure platform for sharing media and data between patients and providers. CaptureProof allows doctors to monitor patient progress and symptoms, triage via media, consult colleagues, and link to wearable devices and EHRs.

It’s recently been used in pilots for remote physical therapy (reducing in-person appointments by 75% and resulting in an overall cost savings of $7,500 per patient) and its diagnostic capabilities are currently being studied by the Epilepsy Monitoring Unit at MAYO Neurology.

Currently an invite is necessary to set up an account. However, we’re in discussion about the various ways brands and agencies can utilize the platform and looking forward to developing partnership opportunities with them.

Holograms still have show-stopping power

With the exception of Shaq walking the showroom floor, preordering robots, when it comes to show-stopping power, hologram technology still reigns supreme.

The Kin-mo booth caused the steadiest stream of pandemonium and buzz at the event, literally, stopping hordes of people in their tracks and compelling them to ask questions and snap pictures and video.

Here at Ogilvy CommonHealth we’re exploring the practical application of Holograms in medical education and are working on making the technology less cost-prohibitive for use in the field.

Meet flic, the wireless smart button that could revolutionize the way patients communicate with providers

Flic is a small wireless button that you can stick anywhere. It can be programmed to send data and commands to apps on Android or iOS devices.

Swedish developers, Shortcut Labs, designed flic with simplicity, accessibility and safety in mind. It’s currently being used to streamline everyday tasks like controlling your connected home, selecting entertainment and ordering food and taxis.

But the ease of use makes it an intriguing solution for things like symptom reporting and tracking between patient and provider, treatment adherence, atmospheric or environmental controls, and accessibility for patients with limited mobility.

VR was king at CES and controller tech is on the rise

This year the Virtual Reality headset manufacturers exhibiting at CES were too numerous to count and VR environments demoing experiences in space, tech, automotive, entertainment, health and fitness were among the most engaging booth draws on the showroom floor.

While everyone seems to agree that VR is going to revolutionize medical education, it’s recent advances in VR controllers and the impact that they might have on rehabilitation and treatment methods that we found most inspiring at CES this year.

Two groups in particular, 3DRudder and Rink, are leading innovation in foot and hand controls, respectively, and are excited to explore applications for their devices in the healthcare space. Each offer the opportunity to gamify the treatment process in new and exciting ways and extend mobility exercises into the VR realm.

Sensum, the marketing industry’s new emotions experts

Turning emotions into data, measuring advertising’s effect on the subconscious, tracking the cognitive unconscious, things that used to be qualitative can now be quantitative thanks to Belfast-based Sensum.

They’re already working with some of the biggest media companies and agencies in the world to measure the effectiveness of messages, customer engagement, and usability.

Whether it’s a live event, or a product that needs to be tested for implicit response, new packaging, or a video message, Sensum has the platform and technology you need to capture the real-time emotional response from your audience.

CES is proving to be a venue for innovators and entrepreneurs to showcase their solutions for healthcare. As the empowered patient and modern physician begin to leverage new technology for better outcomes, there is an increasingly more important role for connected medicine, wearables, and mobile technology to help us live healthier lives.

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Vegas baby! It’s the home to Elvis impersonators, endless entertainment, and, come each January, the largest consumer electronics show in the US. The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is a global technology tradeshow showcasing the latest innovations set to impact our businesses and our lives. Since 1967, CES has been bringing together the most innovative minds across the technology, healthcare, automotive, and robotics sectors, as well as many other industries. Attendees are inundated with a vast amount of futuristic electronics and ideas unveiled each year at the event. And year upon year, this event has become an increasingly hot topic around our agency. Those fortunate enough to attend come away with the feeling they’ve found themselves a golden ticket to the innovative kingdom that is CES.

To get at the heart of what attendees are experiencing during the event, we sat down with Joe Youssef, engagement strategist at Ogilvy CommonHealth and a veteran of CES. Take a look at his firsthand account of how the event has changed and grown in recent years.

OCHWW:
How has the CES evolved over the past couple of years?

JY:
CES used to be an annual tradeshow focused on consumer electronics only. The show has expanded its footprint into all areas of technology: healthcare, gaming, automotive, etc. There is something for everyone in every sector.

OCHWW:
How does CES compare to other industry events (tech, health, etc.)?

JY:
CES isn’t comparable to the majority of industry events due to its diversity and size. SXSW is the only event that comes to mind as being comparable. CES brings a small city of people together, representing different industries, all looking for the latest and greatest tech, trends and business opportunities.

Between the breakout sessions (spanning the multitude of industries), the conference keynote speakers, and the huge the showroom floor exhibiting the latest and greatest tech, it has something to interest everyone.

OCHWW:
What themes at CES have shown the most promise over the past few years?

JY:
Wearables and 3D printing have definitely shown the most promise in recent years.

Wearables have become more intuitive, interoperable, and focused on providing meaningful outcomes for consumers. 3D printers are becoming cheaper, smaller and larger in size (depending on whether you are using for commercial or personal use), and have potential to disrupt many industries as innovative printing materials are developed.

OCHWW:
What survival tips would you give to a first-time attendee at CES?

JY:
Don’t try to do everything during your time at CES. Planning is key to enjoying the show and all it has to offer. Pick the top 2 or 3 things you want to do or see each day. There is NO WAY one person can do and see everything CES has to offer. Be flexible. Most importantly, make sure you bring comfortable shoes with you!

OCHWW:
With a focus on healthcare, what are some of the breakout products that have debuted at CES?

JY:
Wearables come to mind. The ability for health care professionals to monitor patients remotely and adjust treatment in real-time based on collected data is a real game changer. Improvements in genome sequencing and reduction in price are quite incredible. The availability of this data can really unlock the keys to curing and treating the ailments of our aging population.

OCHWW:
What makes for a great speaking event at CES?

JY:
A great speaking event starts with a prepared speaker. Someone who knows how to read a room and deliver a speech relevant to their audience is key. It also helps if there isn’t an ulterior motive to sell your goods or services to the audience. It waters down the message and kills your credibility as a speaker. Focusing on delivering an experience that is enlightening and educational is what makes for the best speaking events.

For more information on CES and to see all the action from the ground in Las Vegas, follow OCHWW on Twitter, @OCHWW.

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2013 has been a year filled with Augmented Reality—from Google Glass to smartphone applications. We are using this developing technology to truly enhance our experience in all aspects of our everyday lives. Augmented Reality allows you the individual, the retailer, or the marketing professional, to bring in additional dollars to your business…. But only if we do it right.

Augmented Reality (AR) was introduced in 2009 as the ability to go beyond showing an animation! AR is a live view of the real world augmented by computer-generated sensory information. With this technology, we are enhancing mobile phone apps, email marketing, and even video. We are able to see more easily, access supporting information, post things to social media sites, make a phone call, launch a video and buy a product from within an application using your mobile phone. Earlier this year, Google announced Project Glass, where you can wear “glasses” and have your world augmented with all kinds of additional fun and interactive elements come to life. In the AR space.

In my world, where creativity meets technology, AR has opened the door with so many possibilities for marketing professionals. We can make the experience unique and meaningful, and much more than a gimmick. We already see smartphone applications that will overlay Yelp reviews onto real-time images of a street view of a street corner. We can see stats projected over player images at a live sporting event. We see healthcare applications that can show where to access emergency medical services to city subways riders and show real-time promotions and discount information on retail store fronts. We are able to make a real difference that will be beneficial to the end user.

Let’s use the retail space as an example. I use my mobile device to locate my favorite store. Once I get to the store, I can use my AR application (if the store supports the technology) on my smartphone to make my shopping experience even more meaningful. I may be looking at a running shoe—using the Layar app, I may be able to see a video of the technology used in the running shoe and view a demonstration of the product in use. And if the store is out of my size, I may be able to buy right from the Layar app. Pretty cool stuff, right!

The technology is now developing quickly. Mobile apps such as Layar, String, blippar and Junaio will accelerate the development process and reduce the application costs. However, the applications must provide meaningful value to the viewer. AR applications that are more gimmicks, games and technical showmanship than marketing are a bad investment. Like most new technologies, the challenge is to keep exploring ways to use AR to create a better user experience and provide meaningful ROI.

We have seen that in 2013, AR is making a difference. Combined with Strategy, Creative and Technology, we can develop:

Solid creative strategy that supports the brand promise

Effective consumer marketing fundamentals and user experience design

Practical application of proven technology with appropriate testing

Measurement of the right metrics

When done this way, we believe that Augmented Reality can create meaningful new opportunities for marketing professionals that deliver greater value and enhance their brand experience.

CONTINUE THE CONVERSATION:Questions? Comments? You can contact the author directly at blog@ochww.com.
Please allow 24 hours for response.